The Category 2 storm made landfall along the Louisiana coast in the early afternoon of Sept. 11.
Samaritan’s Purse volunteers started work over the weekend in south-central Louisiana in communities damaged by Hurricane Francine. The Category 2 storm made landfall on Wednesday, Sept. 11. Sustained 100-mph winds and dangerous storm surge damaged homes, toppled trees, and flooded neighborhoods. Teams are helping clean up trees and debris, tarp damaged roofs, and clean mud out of homes.
“I know there will be difficult days ahead for those impacted by the storm, and that’s why we’re responding,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. “We’re going to help those who suffering and remind them that God loves them. Please join me in praying for these hurting families and for our Samaritan’s Purse teams who are responding in Jesus’ Name.”
U.S. Disaster Relief Unit #5—a tractor trailer filled with relief supplies and equipment—departed early Friday, along with additional support vehicles, from our Southwest Ministry Center in Coppell, Texas.
Volunteers are serving out of our base of operations at Life Church, 2324 Coteau Road in Houma, one of three church partners in the region that hosted our team during the 2021 Hurricane Ida response.
This is the latest in a string of relief responses to the Bayou State this decade. Following Hurricane Laura (a devastating Category 4) and Hurricane Delta (Category 1) in the summer and fall of 2020, we deployed U.S. Disaster Relief teams to clean up and patch roofs. We responded to widespread flooding in Lake Charles in May the following year. We also deployed after Hurricane Ida (another Category 4 storm) hit the greater New Orleans area later in 2021.
We also spent more than a year in the region rebuilding homes that were destroyed by Hurricane Laura.
Please pray for hurting residents, for local churches, and for our teams as we respond.